SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Graduate School of Public Health
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PH 602 Biostatistics
Section
1
Day
Tuesday
Instructor: Judith Harbertson, Ph.D.
Bonnie Tran, Ph.D.
E-mail: jharbertson@mail.sdsu.edu
3 units
Time
1:00pm – 3:40pm
Fall 2013
Location
E 423
Schedule No.
22243
Office location: Hardy Tower 230
Office hours: Tuesday 4:00 – 5:00 pm
btran@mail.sdsu.edu
Course Description:
Statistical reasoning applied to public health; probability, hypothesis testing, regression and
correlation, analysis of variance, measurement theory and modeling.
Required Texts:
– Rosner: Fundamentals of Biostatistics, 7th Edition.
– Alcaraz: “PH 602 Lecture Notes” (Lecture notes should be brought to every class meeting.)
Calculator:
Students will need a scientific calculator which, in addition to performing the basic arithmetic
operations, should have at least the following functions: x 2 , x , y x , e x , and ln (natural log).
Grading System:
Exam I:
Exam II:
Final Exam:
Homework:
25%
25%
50%
5% (see below)
93 – 100 = A
90 – 93 = A–
87 – 90 = B+
83 – 87 = B
80 – 83 = B–
77 – 80 = C+
73 – 77 = C
70 – 73 = C–
67 – 70 = D+
63 – 67 = D
60 – 63 = D–
0 – 60 = F
Exams:
All exams are in-class, open-book and open-notes, and calculators are required. The dates below
are subject to change:
Exam
Date
Chapters in Lecture Notes
I
September 24
Ch 3–6
II
October 29
Ch 7–9, part of 10
Final part 1
December 3
Ch 3–9
Final part 2
December 10
Ch 10–12
Homework Assignment:
The one homework assignment that you are expected to hand in will be assigned on September 17
and due on October 1 (dates subject to change). Although it is required, it will count as 5% extra
credit in your course grade.
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Practice Exercises (not to be confused with homework assignment):
Practice exercises will include problems taken from the text or from other sources. Although the
exercises will not be graded, you are expected to complete them. Solutions will be posted on
Blackboard. If time permits, some exercises may be discussed in class.
Prerequisites:
None, but students are strongly encouraged to have taken an elementary statistics course within
the past three years.
Background:
Students are expected to know descriptive statistics (Ch 2, Rosner); this material will not be
covered in the course. Students should be familiar with basic concepts of probability (3.1 – 3.6,
Rosner), the binomial distribution (4.8 – 4.9), the normal distribution (5.3 – 5.4), basic concepts
of estimation (6.1 – 6.3), and basic concepts of hypothesis testing (7.1 – 7.2). These topics will be
reviewed in the lectures; however, extensive discussions of this material will not be pursued.
Learning Objectives:
In this course, students will learn basic biostatistical methods used in biomedical and public
health research. Students will be able to recognize and apply the appropriate biostatistical
procedures to the analysis of health-related studies. Students will learn
1. To recognize the appropriate use of the binomial, normal, Student’s t, chi-square and F
distributions in estimation and hypothesis testing.
2. To describe the relationship between populations and samples, and the crucial role that
random sampling plays in statistics.
3. To estimate such parameters as means, variances, and proportions, and to test hypotheses
about these parameters (confidence intervals, one-sample test for proportion, one-sample ttest, two-sample t-test, paired t-test).
4. To apply nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test) when the
underlying distributional assumptions are not met.
5. To assess the association—through relative risk or odds ratio estimation and through
hypothesis testing (contingency tables)—between two variables when both variables
represent groupings into categories or classes.
6. To understand the appropriate use of simple linear regression and correlation, and to estimate
parameters and test hypotheses about linear relationships.
7. To complete a one-way analysis of variance model for comparing three or more means, and
to describe procedures for performing multiple pairwise comparisons among these means.
Attendance/Punctuality:
While attendance is not required except for exam dates, students are strongly encouraged to
attend every class meeting and to be punctual. On exam dates, the exam will start at 1:00pm sharp
and will end at 3:40pm sharp. Those who arrive late on exam dates will not be allowed to work
past the end time to complete their exams.
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If you miss an exam because of severe circumstances (such as illness, injury, death in the family),
please contact me no later than one week after the exam to arrange a makeup test.
Students for whom an exam falls on a date of religious observance should contact me by the end
of the second week of classes to discuss alternative arrangements.
Student Conduct and Grievances:
SDSU is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy living and learning environment for
students, faculty and staff. Section 41301, Standards for Student Conduct (at
http://csrr.sdsu.edu/conduct1.html ), and Sections 41302-41304 of the University Policies
regarding student conduct should be reviewed.
If a student believes that a professor’s treatment is grossly unfair or that a professor’s behavior is
clearly unprofessional, the student may bring the complaint to the proper university authorities
and official reviewing bodies. See University Policies on Student Grievances.
Academic Ethics:
SDSU has a strict code of ethical conduct which students are expected to follow. See
http://csrr.sdsu.edu/conduct1.html for details. In particular, cheating on the exams will not be
tolerated. You may not work together on the exams, may not copy answers from other students,
and may not allow other students to copy your answers. Anyone caught cheating will face
disciplinary action.
Nondiscrimination Policy:
SDSU complies with the requirements of Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
as well as other applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination. No person shall, on
the basis of race, color, or national origin be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination in any program of the California State
University.
SDSU does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, or sexual orientation in the educational
programs or activities it conducts.
SDSU does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission or access to, or treatment or
employment in, its programs and activities. Students should direct inquiries concerning SDSU’s
compliance with all relevant disability laws to the Director of Student Disability Services (SDS),
Calpulli Center, Suite 3101, or call 619-594-6473 (TDD: 619-594-2929).
More details on SDSU’s Nondiscrimination Policy can be found in the SDSU General Catalog,
University Policies.
Students with Disabilities:
Students with disabilities should discuss with me privately any specific accommodations for
which they have received authorization. Authorization may be obtained by contacting Student
Disability Services at 619-594-6473 (Calpulli Center, Suite 3101; TDD: 619-594-2929). Please
obtain authorization before making an appointment to see me. More information can be found at
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/sds/.
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Course Outline for PH 602
Topic
Chapters in Rosner
Review of basic concepts of probability
Applications of Bayes’ rule
3.1 – 3.6
3.7
Probability distributions
Discrete
Basic ideas
Review of the binomial distribution
Continuous
Basic ideas
Review of the normal distribution
Normal approximation to binomial
Week *
1
1
5.1, 5.2
5.3, 5.4, 5.5
5.7
2
2
2
2
2
2
2, 3
3
Review of populations and samples
Review of random sampling
Sampling distribution
Estimation: Point and interval
6.1, 6.2
6.3
6.5
6.5, 6.7, 6.8
3
3
3
3, 4
Hypothesis testing
Review of basic concepts
One-sample problem
Two-sample problem
Nonparametric statistics
Hypothesis tests for categorical data
Simple linear regression
Correlation
Analysis of variance
7.1, 7.2
7.3 – 7.7, 7.10
8.1 – 8.7, 8.10
9.1, 9.3, 9.4
10.1, 10.2, 10.4 – 10.6, 13.3, 13.6
11.1 – 11.5
11.7, 11.8
12.1 – 12.4
4.1 – 4.7
4.8, 4.9
4
4
4, 6
6, 7
7
8, 9
11
11, 12
12
* Week of the semester (see next page). Timeline is approximate and subject to change.
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Course Outline for PH 602
Week
1
Date
Aug 27
Topics
Basic probability concepts, conditional probability, relative risk,
screening tests
2
Sept 3
Discrete random variables, binomial distribution, hypothesis testing
preview (p-value), continuous random variables, properties of all
random variables, normal distribution
3
Sept 10
Normal distribution (cont.), populations and random samples,
estimating the mean of a distribution
4
Sept 17
Estimating the variance of a distribution, estimating a binomial
proportion, review of hypothesis testing concepts, one-sample z test,
one-sample t test [Homework assigned]
5
Sept 24
Exam I
6
Oct 1
One-sample t test (cont.), one-sample test for binomial proportion,
paired- versus independent-sample designs, paired t test, two-sample
t test [Homework due]
7
Oct 8
Two-sample t test (cont.), intro to nonparametric tests, Wilcoxon
signed-rank test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test
8
Oct 15
Chi-square test for 2x2 contingency table, odds ratio for 2x2
contingency table, confidence interval for odds ratio
9
Oct 22
Mantel-Haenszel test for 2x2 contingency tables, chi-square test for
RxC contingency table, McNemar’s test for paired samples
10
Oct 29
Exam II
11
Nov 5
Simple linear regression, correlation
12
Nov 12
Correlation (cont.), overall F test for one-way ANOVA, post-hoc
testing (multiple comparisons)
13
Nov 19
TBD
14
Nov 26
No class
15
Dec 3
Final Exam part 1
16
Dec 10
Final Exam part 2
* Timeline is approximate and subject to change.
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ASPH Core Competencies in Biostatistics* and Methods of Evaluation
Competency
(Upon graduation a student with an MPH should be able to…)
Evaluation
Describe the roles biostatistics serves in the discipline of public health.
Homework
Describe basic concepts of probability, random variation and
commonly used statistical probability distributions.
Exam I
Describe preferred methodological alternatives to commonly used
statistical methods when assumptions are not met.
Exam II
Final
Distinguish among the different measurement scales and the
implications for selection of statistical methods to be used based on
these distinctions.
Apply descriptive techniques commonly used to summarize public
health data.
Exam II
Final
Apply common statistical methods for inference.
Exam I
Exam II
Final
Exam II
Final
Apply descriptive and inferential methodologies according to the type
of study design for answering a particular research question.
Exam II
Final
Apply basic informatics techniques with vital statistics and public
health records in the description of public health characteristics and in
public health research and evaluation.
Interpret results of statistical analyses found in public health studies.
Homework
Exam II
Final
* Source: http://www.asph.org/document.cfm?page=703, retrieved August 05, 2013.
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